Hoosiers set to take on No. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes tonight

Coming off a tough loss to the Nittany Lions of Penn State Sunday, the Hoosiers will look to get back on track in the Big Ten as they play host to conference foe No. 3 Ohio State tonight at Assembly Hall.\nIU enters the contest 8-7 overall and 1-4 in conference play. Despite the unfavorable Big Ten record, the Hoosiers have a 6-1 record on Branch McCracken court this season and will look to put home court advantage to use against a solid OSU basketball team.\nThe No. 3 Ohio State squad comes to town with an impressive 17-2 overall record (4-1 in Big-Ten). The Buckeyes are winners of their last six games -- most recently defeating then-No.4 Rutgers, 52-50.\nLeading the way for OSU is sophomore center and preseason first-team All Big Ten selection, Jessica Davenport. Davenport is currently the conference's third leading scorer and ranks fourth in rebounding, averaging 17.7 points per game and 8.0 rebounds per game, respectively.\nIU coach Kathi Bennett had the opportunity to coach Davenport in summer 2004 and knows stopping the Buckeye star will be a challenge. Nevertheless, Bennett feels her squad has what it takes to contain Davenport and come away with a victory.\n"It's certainly not going to get any easier with Ohio State coming in, especially with Jessica Davenport and their whole crew," Bennett said. "We just have to fight and dig and hope (Davenport) she has an off day. She's a complete player and from a weakness standpoint, there aren't very many with her."\nIn addition to Davenport, in his third season as coach, OSU coach Jim Foster will sport senior guard Caity Matter (14.5 ppg) and sophomore guard Brandie Hoskins (12.8 ppg). The Buckeyes' triple threat of Davenport, Matter and Hoskins has caused their opponents some trouble this season, but the Hoosiers feel they can contain the OSU trio with their continued aggressive effort on the defensive end.\nLast time out, against Penn State, the Hoosiers fell apart in the second half due to a combination of poor shooting and a lower level of intensity on the defensive end. Bennett and her players feel playing better defense as a unit for the entire 40 minutes of the game will help them overcome a solid Buckeye team.\n"It is going to be imperative that we play really good team defense," senior Jamie Gathing said. "We're going to have to stop No. 50 (Davenport), their top interior player and we have to be able to stop their guards' penetration; they are really quick. We need to play 40 minutes of hard basketball against Ohio State."\nFor the cream and crimson, junior guard Cyndi Valentin (16.8 ppg) will look to continue her outstanding play on both ends of the floor and help stop the potent Buckeye squad. Valentin is currently closing in on being the 19th player in IU history to score 1,000 career points. She needs only eight points to reach the milestone.\n"Cyndi is a phenomenal player," sophomore Leah Enterline said of Valentin. "She's been the backbone of our team this year. She is just an awesome player and a great leader for us."\nValentin and company will return to action on Sunday at Michigan as part of a two-game conference road swing. IU then takes on Illinois on Thursday in Champaign, IL.\n-- Contact Staff Writer Matt Ostrega at mostrega@indiana.edu.